Next month, New York Times columnist and author Thomas Friedman will be on campus to inform students about the pressing issue of climate change. Whether people think it’s fact or fiction, scientific studies are indicating that Utah could be facing the consequences of global warming in this century.
The National Wildlife Federation says global warming occurs when coal, gas and oil are burned, producing carbon dioxide that builds up in the atmosphere and traps the sun’s heat. Much of the greenhouse gas released remains in the atmosphere even after 100 years, trapping more and more heat. Since the mid-1800s, emissions of carbon dioxide have skyrocketed, and subsequently, global temperatures have risen by about 1 degree Fahrenheit in the last century.
In 2007, eight scientists presented their draft of “Climate Change and Utah: The Scientific Consensus,” to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.’s Blue Ribbon Advisory Council on Climate Change. Jim Steenburgh, a U climate scientist who helped develop the report, emphasized there were no recommendations, just a review of scientific research already done that sheds light on how global warming is affecting Utah and might affect the state’s climate landscape in the future.
Utah’s growing population is putting pressure on the state’s water resources like never before. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates average temperatures in Utah could rise about 6.75 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100 if global warming continues. This will likely bring hotter, drier summers, which are ripe conditions for wildfires. Warmer temperatures also mean less snowpack and earlier snowmelt in the mountains, which means more winter runoff and reduced summer flows in many Utah streams.
In 2007, USA Today reported Utah’s trademark “Greatest Snow on Earth” could be a memory by 2075, citing a report from a pair of Colorado University climatologists. It warned that global warming could shrink the ski season to a mere two months a year. Utah’s ski season could extend only from Christmas to Presidents Day.
The U’s Office of Sustainability is a clearinghouse for information on sustainability initiatives being carried out by other departments and groups on campus. On its Web site it makes several recommendations of how students can do their part to combat climate change.
For example, if people plant shade trees around their homes, they can reduce annual heating and cooling costs by an average of 40 percent. If every household in America replaced its next burned out light bulb with a compact fluorescent, we would prevent more than 13 billion pounds of carbon dioxide from being emitted.
Another simple solution is to utilize the big paper bins placed all over campus. The bins with white labels are intended for white copy paper, thicker card stock and envelopes. The Mixed Paper bins with the red labels are for other types of paper such as magazines, newspaper and catalogues.
After you finish reading the paper, do your part and put it in the Mixed Paper bin with the red label.
Liz Carlston